Marcoux given 4 more years to run city development department

Rocky Marcoux has been given four more years to run Milwaukee's Department of City Development.

The Common Council voted 10-4 on Tuesday, with one absent, to reappoint Marcoux to a new four-year term.

Marcoux has served eight years under Mayor Tom Barrett.

Aldermen Robert Bauman, Nik Kovac, Jose Perez and Tony Zielinski voted not to reappoint Marcoux. Ald. Joe Dudzik was not in attendance.

Kovac and Bauman had led opposition to Marcoux, saying that, under his tenure, his agency had been too secretive and lacked a vision for the city.

Marcoux had been under a cloud for weeks since Barrett renominated him. At a previous council meeting, Kovac said that a decision by a city development staff member to move money from one city account to another without council approval constituted an illegal act.

That statement prompted Ald. Bob Donovan to ask the Milwaukee County district attorney's office to review the allegation. Assistant District Attorney David A. Feiss ultimately found no evidence to suggest any wrongdoing.

Marcoux has acknowledged that mistakes were made with the fund transfers and said steps had been taken to prevent it from happening again.

On Tuesday, Kovac called the fund transfers a "slush fund," adding that it may have not been a criminal act but was a violation of municipal law.

The council also:

Voted to reject a move to hold a referendum on a proposed $64.6 million modern streetcar line. The vote was 11-3. Ald. Bob Donovan had proposed the referendum, arguing that Milwaukee residents deserved a say on the plan. "It's a common sense issue," Donovan said. "Why should we not be willing to seek the opinions of the people we are representing?"

But Ald. Michael Murphy said residents had had a chance to be heard on the proposal, which would link the lower east side to the downtown Amtrak-Greyhound station. Murphy added that, with additional votes coming up next year on the plan, there will still be opportunities for people to express support or opposition. Murphy is an opponent of the project.

Donovan was joined in voting no by Aldermen Jim Bohl and Tony Zielinski. Ald. Joe Dudzik was absent.

Voted unanimously to back a plan in which the city would consider selling sponsorships, advertising and even naming rights from companies or nonprofits as a way of generating revenue for the city. City officials hope the plan, called the Milwaukee Civic Partnership Initiative, could potentially generate millions of dollars.